Filling the jars to the brims

The new Archdiocese of Toronto 2026-33 Pastoral Plan, Filling the Jars to the Brim, draws inspiration from the Wedding Feast at Cana in John’s Gospel (2:1-11).

Cardinal Frank Leo invites the faithful to evoke the dutiful servants who filled six stone jars with water, which Jesus miraculously transformed into wine.

Leo wrote: “This encounter underscores a profound mystery and truth into which we are to enter and live: all our efforts and human cooperation with grace, offered generously and faithfully, with trust and humility, are transformed and become fruitful through the incredible power of Christ’s life-giving grace.”

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Fittingly, the seven-year plan was conceptualized with 2033 in mind, as that year marks the Jubilee of Redemption, the 2,000th anniversary of Jesus Christ the Redeemer defeating death forever through His saving sacrifice.

The pastoral plan conveys that the journey toward 2033 “offers a providential opportunity to help young people encounter Christ more deeply, renew their faith, embrace their vocation and recognize that their lives find their fullest meaning in relationship with Christ the Redeemer. In this way, the Jubilee becomes not simply a future celebration, but a catalyst for lifelong discipleship in the present.”

Filling the Jars to the Brim developed through prayer, listening, discernment and insights from approximately 3,450 Toronto Catholics who participated in an initial consultative process. This consultation illuminated six pastoral priorities, or jars, to, with God’s help, continue renewing the faith and catalyze a proclamation of the Gospel that radiates, in Leo’s words, “great zeal, vigour, enthusiasm and generosity.”

All six priorities are interconnected and together form the overall comprehensive vision, but each will receive a special year of priority starting from 2027-28 with Family Life at All Stages. That will be followed, in order, by: Social Outreach to the Poor, Sick and Vulnerable (2028-29); Prayer, Spirituality and Sacramental Life (2029-30); Catechesis and Formation (2030-31); Vocations and Charisms: Discernment and Promotion (2031-32); and Youth and Young Adults (2032-33).

The unfolding 2026-27 is a Year of Discernment, and Neil MacCarthy, the archdiocesan director of communications and public relations, explained the importance of the contemplative stage.

“This is an opportunity for each parish to recognize its gifts, listen to the needs of its community and discern how the Holy Spirit is calling us to respond,” said MacCarthy. “Our hope is that the pastoral plan will inspire renewed faith and a shared commitment to bringing Christ’s love to others throughout the Archdiocese of Toronto.”

During the foundational first year, pastors will guide their parish pastoral council to pray, listen, assess and discern. Hopefully, the Holy Spirit will impart wisdom as to how this house of worship is called to grow in mission. An archdiocese pastoral council will also undertake this prayerful reflection. 

Archdiocesan and pastoral councils that function properly — the archdiocese mandates every parish have one — can, as stated in Filling the Jars to the Brim, “move us from maintenance to mission, from isolation to co-responsibility, and from uncertainty to clarity.”

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Such fruits emerge if a council is established with care. The pastoral plan calls on the diocese and each parish to understand why the council exists, what it is called to do and what it is not, rather than assembling a group for no rhyme or reason.

Members are not to be chosen “based on popularity or representation in a political sense.” They should be selected because “they are in full communion with the Catholic Church, are outstanding in faith, morals and prudence, participate regularly in the sacramental life, are capable of listening and dialogue and are committed to the good of the whole diocese or parish.”

Each council member must also commit to spiritual formation throughout the journey to ensure the work is always “rooted in prayer and mission.”

The group’s directive is to comprehensively and prayerfully assess the current pastoral situation and then establish clear frameworks about ways their community can engage with each of the six pastoral priority jars.

For example, a council will explore their role in accompanying families across the whole span of life. How will they approach marriage discernment and preparation? How will they support parents in passing on the faith? What can this community do to better accompany and uplift families in crisis?

This process will ideally reveal two or three immediate priorities for action that are mission-driven, realistic and grounded in the vision of all six jars.

Notably, the conclusion of Filling the Jars to the Brim underscores why none of the six priorities can stand alone.

“Strong families form disciples. Social outreach turns disciples towards others. Prayer sustains. Catechesis forms missionary disciples. Vocations and charisms reveal God’s call. Young people carry the mission forward. As they grow, their mission extends into family life at all stages, as future spouses, parents, priests, deacons, consecrated persons and lay leaders. Each jar strengthens the next.”

Leo also calls on the faithful to seek Mary for strength and guidance throughout this seven-year journey.

“At Cana, the Lord Jesus worked the transformation that was needed largely thanks to Mother Mary’s loving presence (we need to invite her into our lives, communities and pastoral plan), her unwavering faith/trust in her Son, her intuitive gaze of her surroundings, her attentiveness to the needs of others with the heart of a mother and her bold yet humble intervention and powerful intercession. She is our helper, the one who brings us to Christ and the one who facilitates, mediates and accompanies the transformation of our hearts, lives and communities.”

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Mary said “do whatever He tells you” to the servants at the wedding. Leo wants those words to guide the Toronto faithful’s path each day over the next seven years.

Read the entire pastoral plan at archtoronto.org.

(Amundson is an associate editor and writer for The Catholic Register.)